About a year ago, I finally made it through the tenth and final Cru Beaujolais. Having tried at least one of each, I breathed a sigh of relief and then didn't think about the region for a while. About a month ago, I got a sample pack of organic wines from Discover Beaujolais, three of them Crus. I think people tend to forget Beaujolais when pairing foods, thinking that the meat course is going to have the heavy reds and the seafood and salad courses are going to have lighter whites, but the reality is that a good Beaujolais will pair with just about anything, and they're affordable enough to open in the middle of the week or whenever you are in the mood.
2009 Christian Bernard Fleurie$22, 14%
Light and delicate, with very mild notes of strawberry and earth. Tannins creep up on the finish. A wide favorite for the online Twitter tasting. There's an interesting thing about this label, which is that the front refers to it as "Select Block Gamay". It's only on the back where it's identified as a Fleurie in tiny letters.
2010 Chateau Cambon Rosé
$16, 14%
Bright cherry and happiness, light acidity on the first taste but it smooths out immediately. Touch of lemon and watermelon, orange blossom, and dried fig. Stewed fruit as it warms up, which is something I've never experience in a rosé. I know that sounds a little like heat damage, but it wasn't like that at all, just a very deep and complex rosé. Perfect here in the waning days of summer, which in Memphis extend into November.
2009 Domaine de la Voûte des Crozes Côte-de-Brouilly
$20, 13% abv.
Deeper red flavor than I was expecting, with black cherry. Great structure with medium tannins, and it should be delightful in a few years. I got to enjoy this with some smoked lamb where it was strong enough to stand up to the flavor.
2009 Domaine J. Chamonard Morgon
$24, 13.% abv.
This one has a splash of bright acidity with an overall profile of ripe raspberries. There's even that hint of nuttiness you get from chewing up the raspberry seeds. Mild tannins and a light body.
Note: These wines were received as samples.
4 comments:
Never seen a Beaujolais rosé.
Then again, never seen a chupacabra. But they probably exist.
Great point about food-pairing. Super versatile.
Joe,
I was a little excited about the rosé, not just because it was something unusual, but because a Gamay rosé from Napa was one of the first wines I ever tasted. Part of a Sattui sampler pack, and even at the time I could tell there was a distinction from the syrupy White Zin I tried around the same time.
The next love affair with dry rosé came with the Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant, and then there was this Italian Negroamaro... Good times.
Cheers,
Benito, who takes all of his advice about chupacabras from Brock Samson
It's great the Beaujolais group is pushing the organics!
Kovas,
Sometimes you're just happy to see anything other than Nouveau on the shelf... Other times, Wow! Small production organic?
Cheers,
Benito
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